Peak performance: US M&A in 2018

United States

02/28/2019

White & Case

On the one hand, the US economy has grown steadily, unemployment is down, interest rates remain low and the Trump administration’s tax cuts have given businesses across the board a material cash boost. Domestic deal activity has benefited, with value climbing 23 percent year-on-year in 2018.

Yet, as strong as the economic fundamentals appear, volatile stock markets, an escalating tariff war and a tougher regime for screening inbound investors have given dealmakers pause.

Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both hit record highs in 2018, they have also suffered some of their biggest one-day falls since the financial crisis. Inbound deal value, meanwhile, has dropped by 10 percent. New powers granted to CFIUS, which could make it tougher for foreign entities to invest in certain industries, and the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs on steel, aluminum and various Chinese imports have all weighed on investment into the US from abroad (continue)

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